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SAND, SILT and CLAY - Coggle Diagram
SAND, SILT and CLAY
Sand
Sand particles are essentially small rock fragments
have little or no ability to supply grass with nutrients or to retain them against leaching
Asrockfragments, sandy soils feel gritty between the fingers.
The sand grains have little ability to stick together
thus sandy soils can not be rolled into a string when wetted.
Itis well known that sandy soils are droughty soils because they retain little water when wetted.
water is retained is released to plants easily.
When rain or irrigation occurs the water readily penetrates the soil surface
the excess moves through rapidly and the soil remains well aerated.
These properties make sands a desirable medium for growing sports turf
where there is no limitation in appling water and nutrition, as needed, throughout the season.
Clay
The scientists have assigned the name clay to the finest particles and not without reason.
Clay size particles are the source of most of the chemicalproperties ofsoil.
responsible for the retention of
many of the plant nutrients in the
soil
calcium,
magnesium,
potassium,
trace elements and some
ofthe phosphorus.
Claysreact with the breakdown products of organic matter
to stabilize the humus in the
soil
Asoil without clay particles can
be a very infertile soil.
because of their very small size and very large surface area
are able to retain greater amounts of water
than sandy soils.
clays hold the water more closelyand do not release the water as readily to grass roots as sands.
Clay particles have a vastly greater tendency to stick together than sand
thus it is common farmer knowledge that soilshigh in clayare difficultto till.
When a smallsample of a clay soil
is wetted and rubbed between the fingers it will feel very sticky and is easily formed into a string.
Silt
The particles classifiedas silt are in termediate in size and chemicaland physical properties
between clay and sand.
The silt particles have limited ability to retain plant
nutrients, or to release them to the soil solution for plant uptake.
have a spherical shape
giving a high silt soil a soapy or slippery feeling
when rubbed between the fingers when wet and is more difficult to form into a string than clays.
Because of the spherical shape
silt alsoretains a large amount of water
but it releases the water readily to plants.
While siltsoils are generally considered very fertile for the growth of plants
largely due to their water characteristics and ease of cultivation
engineers dread working with them due to their relatively easy release of water and lack of ability for the particles to stick together.